Wii U has historically bad January, sells about 50,000 units in US

Sales numbers reveal worst performance for a console since at least 2005.

We've known since late January that Nintendo had scaled back expectations for the early 2013 performance of its recently launched Wii U. But now, US sales numbers for the system in first month of the year are beginning to leak out and it's clear that Nintendo's latest system is suffering from a monumental post-holiday slump.

While NPD no longer releases US hardware sales data every month, a representative for the tracking firm told Gamasutra that US sales in the system's first three months were down 38 percent compared to the same period for the Wii. That would mean the Wii U has sold approximately 940,000 units through January in the US.

Combine that with the 890,000 Wii U units Nintendo has said were sold in November and December of 2012, and you get a US sales figure of about 50,000 in January alone. That gels with reports from others sources with access to NPD's internal data, who claim the Wii U sold "well under" 100,000 units for the month.

That's not just a new year's slump—it's historically bad performance for any system, in any month. Since 2005, none of the current generation systems have shown sales numbers that low in a single month. Even during its slow decline last year, the aging Wii managed to sell about 67,000 units in a very weak October. The PS3 bottomed out at about 82,000 units April and May of 2007, while it was still in its early, overpriced days.

For comparison, the Wii sold 436,000 units in its first January way back in 2007, according to NPD. For a more contemporary comparison, the struggling Vita managed to sell 30,000 units this January.

Things don't look much better for Nintendo on the software side, where analyst Kevin Dent tweeted that Nintendo's sales were "under $15M," or about four percent of the total software market across all consoles and PC.

It all adds up to what is easy to characterize as one of the weakest US launch performances for any major new home video game hardware in history. But it's probably too early to call Nintendo definitively out of the running for this generation. Remember, Nintendo recently managed to turn around the 3DS's slightly less dire launch with a quick price drop and major releases in franchises like New Super Mario Bros. and Mario Kart. Nintendo has publicly admitted that the Wii U's post-launch software lineup has been barer than it would like, but it has also promised high-profile games like Pikmin 3 and Game & Wario for the second quarter of the year.

Still, if Nintendo's hardware sales numbers stay this low for much longer, a downward spiral of developer and customer expectations will have the Wii U entering the desperation territory of systems like the Dreamcast and the Virtual Boy before too much longer. If Nintendo is going to turn this boat around, it had better do it quickly.

Promoted Comments

When you put it into a little perspective, it's not the earth-shattering bottom-out that "historically bad" implies, even when you consider that Sony did it to itself with its baffling $599 launch price and the initial scarcity of the 360 at launch.

However, Nintendo does need to start bringing out some incentives for people to start wanting a Wii U, as even with the price range(compared to the PS3's launch) there aren't too many reasons to get one unless you really like Mario, and I do think the Nintendo Directs are a step in the right direction.

933 posts | registered Feb 19, 2011

Kyle Orland
Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in the Washington, DC area. Emailkyle.orland@arstechnica.com//Twitter@KyleOrl

134 Reader Comments

Is the Wii U a loss leader like the PS3 or 360 were when they launched? Because if Nintendo is making a profit on 55,000 sales, and MS and Sony lost money on every single console they shipped... well, that's a different story entirely.

We're already seeing the fallout with Rayman delayed so it can go multiplatform. Third-party support may already be gone.

I know Nintendo is selling Wii U at a loss, but I can't see anything other than a price cut that will help. They can't just make games appear overnight. (And NintendoLand was a hit with my kids. But I'm not paying $350 for it.)

Is the Wii U a loss leader like the PS3 or 360 were when they launched? Because if Nintendo is making a profit on 55,000 sales, and MS and Sony lost money on every single console they shipped... well, that's a different story entirely.

I love Nintendo. I consider Ocarina of Time to be one of the best games, ever. That said, I don't think it should come as any shock that the company is analagous to a sine-wave when it comes to hardware. As far as I'm concerned, this is the 'Virtual Boy' of this generation.

Maybe I'm not in their target demographic but I've seen very few ads for the WiiU on TV or anywhere else. Like it or not, advertising matters. The average person doesn't know what the WiiU is--they have no clue if it's an add-on for the Wii or an entirely new system and that's what's killing sales right now.

Some say it's the lack of games but a poor game lineup at launch is consistent with pretty much every console launch in history. And it's not mobile gaming affecting Nintendo either (at least not at this point in time). Steakhouses didn't go away just because McDonald's can be found in every neighborhood.

The Wii U just doesn't seem like Next Generation to me. It seems like current generation tech plus a fancy controller. I can't be the only person with that perception. It's difficult to justify throwing down $350 for something that doesn't seem appreciably more impressive than the 7 year old system that I already own.

On one hand, Microsoft and Sony must be relieved to see the Wii U won't jump out to a huge head start over the 720 and PS4.

On the other hand, I'm sure product planners and researchers at both companies are furiously poring over the sales and demographic data to figure out if this is a Nintendo problem or an industry problem. These numbers may be terrifyingly low, even for Microsoft and Sony.

We already know mobile gaming devices are a niche market from here on out, and any successful device will have to piggyback on Android or iOS.

In 12 months, we'll know whether we just entered the post-console era.

My partner picked one up for her kids. They love it, as does my son, but I do not see buying one for my household. Also, her son, is investing in GameCube games for their Wii. The Social aspect seems very impressive on the Wii U, but our Wii spends most of its time pushing Netflix. I guess my feelings are summed up with, I love the Wii and the Wii U is awesome, but a Roku or an Android box for a fraction of the cost, with games that are a fraction of the cost, even if they are lower overall quality, will likely replace the Wii and prevent me from ever getting a Wii U for myself. I nor my kid is addicted to any Mario title, unlike my partner.

My brother got a Wii U and I've played with it a bit. It's pretty fun but there is no must have game right now that would drive me to purchase it. New Super Mario Bros U is fun but it's not enough of an improvement over all the other New Super Mario Bros games I already have.

Nintendo has really done a bad job of making sure their consoles launch with a must have game since the Nintendo 64 and Mario 64. Wii Sports saved them with the Wii but I feel like it was more of a happy accident that Wii Sports was so fun to everyone, and it was mostly based on novelty. Because NntendoLand on the Wii U is similar but the novelty is gone so nobody feels like they have to have it (and ask anyone if they really want a Wii Sports sequel at this point and the answer will be no.)

The gimmick of motion controls -- much like the gimmick of instrument controllers with Rock Band -- has run its course. It's time to return to solid game design and making fun games to attract customers.

If the console makers fail to learn that lesson this entire generation of consoles may be a failure.

When you put it into a little perspective, it's not the earth-shattering bottom-out that "historically bad" implies, even when you consider that Sony did it to itself with its baffling $599 launch price and the initial scarcity of the 360 at launch.

However, Nintendo does need to start bringing out some incentives for people to start wanting a Wii U, as even with the price range(compared to the PS3's launch) there aren't too many reasons to get one unless you really like Mario, and I do think the Nintendo Directs are a step in the right direction.

Why and how did nintendo decide that launching a console with inferior hardware than the competition from 5 (6,7?) years ago was a good idea?

Every Nintendo article someone dusts off this chestnut. The hardware is not inferior to Xbox360/PS3 unless your only criteria is system-memory bandwidth.

Is this selling worse than the gamecube did? Seems hard to believe that it could keep pace with Wii sales over the holidays and then after one month suddenly be on track to be "one of the weakest US launch performances for any major new home video game hardware in history" . I'm not concerned, when the big games drop I'll buy one. They need 1 game sale per system to turn a profit, so while sold at a loss it's a minor loss, nothing that'll hurt them for years like the Xbox360/PS3.

I think there are a lot of people like me, waiting for Pikmin/Zelda/Metroid/Smash/Kart/whatever before going for it.

When you put it into a little perspective, it's not the earth-shattering bottom-out that "historically bad" implies, even when you consider that Sony did it to itself with its baffling $599 launch price and the initial scarcity of the 360 at launch.

However, Nintendo does need to start bringing out some incentives for people to start wanting a Wii U, as even with the price range(compared to the PS3's launch) there aren't too many reasons to get one unless you really like Mario, and I do think the Nintendo Directs are a step in the right direction.

Fair point, but the January was historically bad by any standards, and implies that the holiday buying spree might not be sustainable. February's data is gonna be interesting, especially since there are no high profile Wii U exclusives to turn things around just yet...

Some say it's the lack of games but a poor game lineup at launch is consistent with pretty much every console launch in history. And it's not mobile gaming affecting Nintendo either (at least not at this point in time). Steakhouses didn't go away just because McDonald's can be found in every neighborhood.

I think mobile is constantly eating into the console gaming market, and by mobile I mean smartphones and tablets. I'm surprised at the amount of videos on YouTube showing kids receiving an iPad as their christmas or birthday present.

There's a lot of kids who want an iPad and that will become their main "computer" and their primary gaming device.

That made perfect sense in 2006 and the Wii was a huge hit in terms of hardware sales. It was not, however, in terms of software sales. This should have been a warning to Nintendo senior management that a (relatively) cheap piece of hardware reliant and sales to grandma and housewives was probably a one-hit wonder and could not be replicated.

The 2013 gaming landscape in unrecognizable to someone from 2006. Mobile gaming and social gaming have stolen grandma and the housewives back and Nintendo no longer has a base of hardcore users. They are in no-mans land: unable to compete with the free, easily digestible chunks of gameplay offered on tables, phones and through Facebook-like apps.......and unable to compete with more advanced systems favored by the gamers still willing to pay $50 and upwards for games.

I think this may be the last generation of consoles in general...but particularly for Nintendo. Outside of the gimmicky Wii's short-term appeal Nintendo hasn't produced a winning console since the SNES. I think they will focus on handheld gaming where they seem to have a very firm understanding of consumers wants there.

Some say it's the lack of games but a poor game lineup at launch is consistent with pretty much every console launch in history. And it's not mobile gaming affecting Nintendo either (at least not at this point in time). Steakhouses didn't go away just because McDonald's can be found in every neighborhood.

did you just say Nintendo was a Steakhouse and Sony/Microsoft were McDonald's? haha, not sure very many people are going to agree with that. But either way, if no one decides they want said steaks, then yes, after a certain amount of time, that steakhouse goes out of business. Hmm... to use your analogy some more, they would least closes that restaurant, could Nintendo just leave US and still stay afloat? how is Nintendo doing in Europe and Japan?

Nintendo has basically been irrelevant to most gamers since the N64, and honestly they've done nothing to change that. People have apparently grown tired of buying a $300+ system to play 5 or 6 Nintendo developed exclusive games...

I feel for Nintendo - they're in a tough spot, and they didn't help themselves with the software lineup at this thing's launch. Yeah, there were a lot of games, but a lot of them were just ports of games that were cheaper elsewhere.

After seeing this data last night, I got to thinking about it, and trying to decide what the issues is (aside from a severe lack of games). I think it's a combination of two things:

1) People such as myself, who grew up with Nintendo, who have always purchased Nintendo hardware (sometimes without question), who now presumably have disposable income, aren't picking this thing up because there's no incentive to. If there was a new 3D Mario, or, hell, even an exceptionally high quality 2D Metroid, I'd consider it. Buy my backlog is full as it is, and I'm not going to drop this kind of money for one game (NSMBU) that I don't particularly care about.

2) Kids, who used to be (and probably still are, to some extent) Nintendo's target demographic don't gobble Nintendo games up like when I was a kid. Kids have iPhones and iPads with incredibly cheap games that are simple to get into, and the devices they're on aren't a single-function device (I know the WiiU has multimedia stuff, but I suspect most people considering buying one have devices that do most of the same things), so they're a more practical purchase than a game console. If I was 10, I'd probably rather have an iPad than a dedicated console. I could take the iPad into my bedroom and play in bed, or out on the couch, or on the bus, and the games are cheap.

I suppose this goes without saying, but Nintendo can't lose both of those demographics. I don't know what it takes to get kids on board, but like I said, I'd be on board if Nintendo released a few good games. They haven't yet, and HD Wave Waker isn't it, either.

See, I love my Wii U. I think it's a great piece of hardware, and whenever I get it in people's hands, they like it too. The problem is that there just isn't anything for it yet worth buying.

This is the same problem the 3DS faced at first. There were no games. Super Street Fighter IV? Steel Diver? Pilotwings Resort? Now, of course, there are tons of games for it.

Right now, there's only NSMBU (which everyone played when it was called New Super Mario Bros. Wii) and NintendoLand (which isn't all that exciting) available for the system. When a new Smash Bros. with real online multiplayer hits as well as new Mario Kart, Zelda, etc. then we'll see what it can really do.

I feel for Nintendo - they're in a tough spot, and they didn't help themselves with the software lineup at this thing's launch. Yeah, there were a lot of games, but a lot of them were just ports of games that were cheaper elsewhere.

After seeing this data last night, I got to thinking about it, and trying to decide what the issues is (aside from a severe lack of games). I think it's a combination of two things:

1) People such as myself, who grew up with Nintendo, who have always purchased Nintendo hardware (sometimes without question), who now presumably have disposable income, aren't picking this thing up because there's no incentive to. If there was a new 3D Mario, or, hell, even an exceptionally high quality 2D Metroid, I'd consider it. Buy my backlog is full as it is, and I'm not going to drop this kind of money for one game (NSMBU) that I don't particularly care about.

2) Kids, who used to be (and probably still are, to some extent) Nintendo's target demographic don't gobble Nintendo games up like when I was a kid. Kids have iPhones and iPads with incredibly cheap games that are simple to get into, and the devices they're on aren't a single-function device (I know the WiiU has multimedia stuff, but I suspect most people considering buying one have devices that do most of the same things), so they're a more practical purchase than a game console. If I was 10, I'd probably rather have an iPad than a dedicated console. I could take the iPad into my bedroom and play in bed, or out on the couch, or on the bus, and the games are cheap.

I suppose this goes without saying, but Nintendo can't lose both of those demographics. I don't know what it takes to get kids on board, but like I said, I'd be on board if Nintendo released a few good games. They haven't yet, and HD Wave Waker isn't it, either.

Nintendo could release a game for iOS and, with the help of some clever strategy, lure those iOS–Nintendo–gamers to Nintendo's hardware.

Nintendo is stupid to only release one updated VC game A MONTH. I'm sure if Black Ops 2 had DLC out for the Wii U it would help put money in Nintendo's pockets, but that's something Activision has to do.

On an unrelated note, I give automatic downvotes to people who call the next Xbox the "720." It's just stupid to call it that.

No, that's not what they're doing. They're doing this at first to get interest up. This is not their strategy going forward.

2) Kids, who used to be (and probably still are, to some extent) Nintendo's target demographic don't gobble Nintendo games up like when I was a kid. Kids have iPhones and iPads with incredibly cheap games that are simple to get into, and the devices they're on aren't a single-function device (I know the WiiU has multimedia stuff, but I suspect most people considering buying one have devices that do most of the same things), so they're a more practical purchase than a game console. If I was 10, I'd probably rather have an iPad than a dedicated console. I could take the iPad into my bedroom and play in bed, or out on the couch, or on the bus, and the games are cheap.

Very few of those iPhone and iPad games make for very good franchises. Other than Angry Birds, can you name a mobile game with a recognizable mascot? Kids, from what I've seen (I have two - 8 and 6) don't often think in terms of price or value. Recognition of the product is much more important.

Based on what I've seen among my kids' peers, Mario is still a big name. Pokemon is HUGE. The Wii U's issue isn't lack of interest from kids. It's a mix of poor marketing and poor timing of the initial game releases.

I feel for Nintendo - they're in a tough spot, and they didn't help themselves with the software lineup at this thing's launch. Yeah, there were a lot of games, but a lot of them were just ports of games that were cheaper elsewhere.

After seeing this data last night, I got to thinking about it, and trying to decide what the issues is (aside from a severe lack of games). I think it's a combination of two things:

1) People such as myself, who grew up with Nintendo, who have always purchased Nintendo hardware (sometimes without question), who now presumably have disposable income, aren't picking this thing up because there's no incentive to. If there was a new 3D Mario, or, hell, even an exceptionally high quality 2D Metroid, I'd consider it. Buy my backlog is full as it is, and I'm not going to drop this kind of money for one game (NSMBU) that I don't particularly care about.

2) Kids, who used to be (and probably still are, to some extent) Nintendo's target demographic don't gobble Nintendo games up like when I was a kid. Kids have iPhones and iPads with incredibly cheap games that are simple to get into, and the devices they're on aren't a single-function device (I know the WiiU has multimedia stuff, but I suspect most people considering buying one have devices that do most of the same things), so they're a more practical purchase than a game console. If I was 10, I'd probably rather have an iPad than a dedicated console. I could take the iPad into my bedroom and play in bed, or out on the couch, or on the bus, and the games are cheap.

I suppose this goes without saying, but Nintendo can't lose both of those demographics. I don't know what it takes to get kids on board, but like I said, I'd be on board if Nintendo released a few good games. They haven't yet, and HD Wave Waker isn't it, either.

For some reason a Nintendo phone popped in my head while reading this comment. Of course that would probably never happen and probably not be that great of an idea at all. So then the thought comes to mind of them making some games for the mobile market. I think I remember seeing an article on that indicated that would never happen. Of course none of this helps console sales. I guess I'm just babbling then...